Trigger

Kat (Molly Parker) and Vic (the late, great Tracy Wright) are two rock and rollers who once shared a friendship, a band and a whole lot of bedlam. A dozen years after the breakup of their band, Trigger, the lovable yet dysfunctional duo reunite to rediscover their friendship, relive their rock and roll memories and reignite bits of their wild past.

The pretext to the reunion is a benefit concert in Toronto. The nostalgic Kat, who now works as a producer, seems almost too thrilled about the event, while her sour ex-partner, Vic (a pitch-perfect performance by the late Wright as a kind of Toronto Chrissie Hynde) needs a little encouragement. McDonald films their rendezvous at a hip, high-rise restaurant with great verve. The restaurant is too chic for the simple Vic, but perfectly reflects Kat’s oversized ego. Their difficult and sometimes spiteful discussion – which touches on punctuality, egoism, sacrifice and opportunism – resuscitates their rivalry and their long-dormant demons: alcohol and drugs.

Their conversation is so captivating that we could spend the evening listening to them, but there is a concert to rock, so the duo hits the streets: first to Vic’s apartment, where we meet her writer boyfriend (Don McKellar, in a playful appearance); then to the concert hall, where the women butt heads with the show’s blasé stage manager (the great Sarah Polley in a memorable cameo). Finally, they hit the stage for a performance that neither of them would have thought possible an hour earlier.

– Martin Bilodeau, Toronto International Film Festival